Hounding in Hounslow

For my latest adventure, I tackle some TfL routes on the western fringes of London and over the border into Surrey & Berkshire, centered on Hounslow.

How it used to be……

London United Mercedes Benz Citaro MCL30304 of Hounslow (AV) Garage on the 203 at Hatton Cross Bus Station back in January 2023, some months before the route was converted to double deck.

Citaros have long been a reliable and favoured bus of choice in many European cities but sadly have only ever played a small part in TfL operations.

Route 203: Staines to Hounslow

The day began at Staines Bus Station across the border in Surrey, as I awaited the arrival of the next 203, which LVF showed was Volvo Hybrid VH45165 from Hounslow (AV) Garage. My previous journey on the route had been in the opposite direction aboard one of the rare (for London) Mercedes Benz Citaros, which had been replaced by double deckers well over a year before, but which I had yet to sample since conversion.

The bus arrived only a couple of minutes before the scheduled departure time, so we duly filed on almost immediately and left promptly. A steady run out of Staines, passing the site of the long gone London Country Staines (ST) Garage. A gentle amble along the dual carriageway beside the reservoirs to Ashford Hospital, where we exchanged a few passengers, before traversing the suburban housing in Stanwell, another good source of custom for us. The route then continued around the outskirts of Heathrow Airport, passing near but oddly ignoring the Cargo Area and Terminal 4, preferring instead the industrial area of Stanwell Road and Hatton Road. A double run at Hatton Cross to serve the Bus Station, with a number of those on board deserting us for the Underground. Then paralleling the Piccadilly Line to Hounslow West, before the final stretch into Hounslow Town Centre. Temporary lights with one way working between Hounslow West Station and Wellington Road North caused only a couple of minutes delay. Our final destination, Hounslow Bus Station, was reached after a 50 min trip.

The 203 dates back to 1951 when it started in a small way as a Hounslow to Hanworth local. Pushing east to Twickenham & Richmond at different times, it also extended west to Hatton Cross, Bedfont and eventually Staines, with a 203A variant deviating from the main route to Ashford. Crew operation with RT was replaced by OPO SMS on the 203/A in 1972, by which time the operation was between Hounslow & Staines / Ashford. 1976 saw the end of the 203A number on conversion to LS Leyland Nationals. An extension to Brentford at the eastern end began in 1978 but later shrank back to Hounslow once again.

1991 saw the route pass to London Buslines, first with midis but later with Darts. Ten years later and TGM (who later became part of Travel London) took over with their Darts. London United assumed responsibility in 2006, firstly with DP Darts but later with MCL Citaros. The odd double decker had appeared for some time but this was regularised with the latest contract renewal, relying mainly on VHs but with the odd ADE and ADH turning out.

Back to the present……

Current fare on the 203 comprises mainly Volvo Hybrid double deckers, exemplified by VH45167 seen at its home garage of Hounslow between trips. I rode sibling vehicle VH45165 from Staines to this point.

RATP DEV has recently been taken over by First Bus London but many buses have yet to receive the new names.

Route 81: Hounslow to Slough (and back)

My last trip on the 81 had been on the occasion of the Vintage Bus Running Day in 2022 organised by the London Bus Museum, which recreated not just the parent route, but also its variants the 81A (Hounslow - Langley Fords, M-F Peaks) which ran from 1943 to 1968; the 81B (Hounslow - Heathrow Central) from 1954 to 1970; and the 81C (Slough - Heathrow Central) from 1968 to 1970. I enjoyed reprising these suffix routes which I hadn’t done back in the day aboard preserved RT types!

Anyway, back to the present and the offering on the standard 81 is now more prosaic, mainly comprising VW class Volvo B9TLs out of Metroline’s Lampton (SG) Garage, although 2 or 3 VWH Volvo Hybrids from the 120 allocation are frequently out in support, with often as not a similar number of VWs appearing on the 120. I had VW1384 for my trip and was one of only a small number boarding at School Road, the first pick-up stop opposite Hounslow Bus Station, which seems very under-used these days with only a couple of routes picking up within it.

A reasonable run on the outward trip, back through Hounslow Town Centre via Bell Corner, then through the roadworks to Hounslow West. After this, we attained the fast dual carriageway section out through Cranford and Harlington Corner, missing out many stops as no one wanted to get on or off. A few airport workers alighted at Heathrow North and the Compass Centre, before we turned off to serve the airport hotel area, followed by the settlements of Poyle and Colnbrook, where the village centre is surprisingly quaint with old inns and other buildings on either side of the narrow main street.

Just before Langley, we regained the main road and passed under the M4 roundabout, before continuing along London Road through the outskirts of Langley and the greenery of Kedermister Park. On the approach to Slough, traffic slowed a bit, but we arrived at the Queensmere Centre after a good trip of 55 mins. The short section from here across the road to the Bus Station is still unserved following a fire at that location well over a year ago - the usual bureaucracy seemingly causing a huge delay in reconstructing and reopening the interchange.

I had hoped to step up a working here and catch the bus in front on the return trip, but by the time I walked through the shopping centre to the first pick up stop on the other side, it had left, so I awaited the same vehicle as I had arrived on after its layover. A busier run on the return and although I alighted at Bell Corner rather than staying on to the Bus Station, it took us an hour, compared with 5 mins less for the whole route on the outbound run. It didn’t help that we arrived at Heathrow North after a gap in the 222s and at Harlington Corner after a hiatus in the H98s, so we copped the lot at most stops on the common section of these 3 routes where the crowd wanted Hounslow!

The 81 has ploughed a furrow between Hounslow and Slough for decades, but once had an extension at weekends to Windsor, which lasted until 1963. RT operated back then, RMs appeared from the mid 60s, at weekends only at first then daily. One man conversion to SM single deck came in 1970, although these were replaced later in the decade by SMS and then LS types. The route was one of the early batches to be offered to tender in 1985, with London Buslines winning this using yellow and brown livered ex-London Transport DMS, although these were later replaced with Leyland Lynxes. 1995 saw another operator change, to Westlink / London United, with various single deck types performing including DA, LS, LX and DP. Double deckers returned again in the late noughties, with TA, VA, VP, SP and ADE all appearing at different times. Current operator Metroline have been in control since 2019.

Metroline Volvo B9TL VW1384 of Lampton (SG) Garage at Slough Queensmere Centre after my trip on it from Hounslow.

The destination “Slough BUS STATION” is not correct as this has been closed for well over a year following a fire. The temporary terminus meanwhile is at the previous stop across the road from the Bus Station.

Route E8: Hounslow to Ealing Broadway

After alighting from the 81 at Hounslow Bell Corner, I remained at the same stop for my next bus on the E8. This route has recently been retained by Metroline on retender with new electrics intended in due course but with the possibility of a temporary conversion to hybrids pending the installation of charging equipment at the operational garage - Brentford (AH). Therefore, a chance to sample the existing diesels before they go.

First to pull up was VW1071, an elderly Volvo B9TL but still in fine fettle as to be expected from this generally reliable class. The E8 is a busy route, running in parallel with the 237 between Hounslow and Brentford via Isleworth, over which we were mainly full with many on and off at almost every stop. After Brentford, the route is less crammed but still well used as it runs in tandem with the 195 via Brentford Station across the Great West Road then through suburbia to Boston Manor Station and up to Hanwell. The final section of route is another trunk section from Hanwell via West Ealing to Ealing Town Centre running together with the busy 207 and other services. Oddly, the destination on i-bus is still shown as “Ealing Town Hall”, which was the temporary terminus during Crossrail works, although the route has since been restored to Ealing Broadway, Haven Green.

Just days prior to my visit, due to roadworks, the E8 had been turning short at Hanwell Broadway and there were a few queries to the driver from passengers as to whether normal service had indeed been resumed! Interestingly, the route passes two former Trolleybus depots - Isleworth (IW) and Hanwell (HL), both now long closed with the sites converted to other uses. My trip was around 55 mins end to end.

The E8 dates from 1990, when the E1 was split in two at Ealing Broadway, the southern section to Brentford receiving the new number. Initially operating with RW midibuses, Armchair Transport took the contract in 1997 with Darts and extended the route a short distance to their garage in Commerce Road. Armchair was taken over by Metroline in 2004, who continued with Darts until these were replaced by DE class Enviro200s. The extension to Hounslow Bell Corner came in 2016, along with the double decking to VW types.

Another Metroline Volvo B9TL, this time VW1071 of Brentford (AH) Garage on the E8 at Ealing Broadway Haven Green after my trip from Hounslow The Bell.

Note that this bus still sports yellow “dayglo” blinds, which were once standard but are now quite rare in London.

Part Route 65: Ealing Broadway to North Brentford Quarter

At Ealing Broadway Station, I changed to the 65 for a short positioning trip down to North Brentford, just south of the Great West Road. The 20 min journey was aboard First Bus London VH45135 of Fulwell (FW) Garage, one of a couple of hybrids which were supporting the majority BCE class electrics on the route.

Despite the RATP Group decals, this is now First Bus London BE37083 of Hounslow Heath (WK) Garage on the 235 at Sunbury Village after my extended run from Brentford.

The very small “I am an electric bus” legend on the side of this Enviro200 MMC EV is almost unreadable!

Route 235: North Brentford Quarter to Sunbury Village

Next on the list, a ride on the 235, which since my last ride on it in the opposite direction, had passed from Metroline to RATP Group (now First Bus London) with new BYD ADL Enviro200 EV single deckers. Operated from Hounslow Heath (WK) Garage, the service appeared to be some disarray when I arrived at the North Brentford Quarter terminus, as the next bus was not due for 15 mins on a 8-9 min frequency. Eventually, BE37083 arrived and after some discussion with the controller, the driver changed the destination display to Sunbury Village and let me and the other passenger waiting aboard.

Due to the gap in service, we picked up a number on the “round the corner” link towards Brentford Town Centre and soon became busy, with a good load as we made our way through Isleworth to Hounslow. Whilst traffic was quite heavy, it was free-flowing, with no obvious causes of delay, but I noted 235s coming the other way bunched together with several of them short-working to Busch Corner. A massive crowd boarded at Bell Corner and although some alighted as we progressed through Hounslow Heath, we were busy all the way to Feltham. Traffic was sticky through the town centre and we were still almost full until Lower Feltham, when we finally emptied out. A quieter run on the final stretch down to Sunbury Cross and on to Sunbury Village, but it seems that the route really could do with double deckers, as used to operate when the service first started when it took over the western section of trunk route 237. Arrival at the “Three Fishes” terminus was after a 1h 15m run, some 10 mins more than scheduled.

The 235 began in 1996 when the 237 was split, operating between Brentford and Sunbury Village with London United Metrobuses. However, since 1998, single deckers have been the norm, as the route passed through TGM, Travel London / Abellio, Metroline and London United, initially mainly Darts but then with Enviro200 MMCs until the current BEs. The short extension from Brentford to North Brentford Quarter was added in 2013.

Another Enviro200 MMC electric now with First Bus London despite the RATP Group fleet names, BE37050 of Fulwell (FW) Garage, on the 290 at Staines Bus Station at the end of my rides for the day.

Whilst most Bus Stops in Staines served by TfL routes are of the standard London type, those in the Bus Station are of Surrey County Council design.

Part Route 216: Sunbury Village to Sunbury Cross

Part Route 290: Sunbury Cross to Staines

I had originally intended to finish the day with a trip on the 216 from Sunbury Village to Kingston and back to my start point at Staines, but cut this short due to severe delays on the route, caused by a weekend closure on the M25, with diverted traffic causing chaos in the Hampton Court area. The 216 has a nominal 20 min frequency, but there was nothing scheduled towards Kingston at the time I arrived for almost an hour!

Therefore, I decided to return back to Staines direct, as a westbound 216 was due within 10 mins, formed of Enviro200 DLE30001 of Fulwell (FW) Garage. However, when this arrived, it was short-working to Ashford Hospital, despite several passengers waiting (including me) wanting Staines. The driver apologised profusely and said that due to the traffic caused by the M25 closure, buses were taking over 2 hours to get from Kingston to Staines and vice versa, hence lots of short turns due to late running. He advised anyone wanting Staines to alight at Sunbury Cross, just a few stops up the road, and take a 290, which was unaffected by delays.

This I and several others did, with a 10 min wait at Sunbury Cross for BE37050, another FW Garage bus, on the 290 to Staines. A 25 min straight run via Ashford to Staines, where I arrived back at the Bus Station about an hour earlier than planned, but at least avoiding sitting in interminable traffic jams for much of the afternoon!

Watton

In the “And Finally” slot, a delightful retro view of preserved RT1705 on the 81B at Hounslow Garage back in June 2022 during a London Bus Museum Vintage Bus Running Day on Route 81.

The 81 once had three suffixed variants, the 81A (Hounslow - Langley Fords); 81B (Hounslow - Heathrow Airport Central); 81C (Slough - Heathrow Airport Central), all of which were reprised on the Running Day.